


Witcher Ways

by TheDarkLightWithin



Category: The Witcher (TV), The Witcher (TV) RPF, Wiedźmin | The Witcher (Video Game), Wiedźmin | The Witcher - All Media Types
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-26
Updated: 2020-08-26
Packaged: 2021-03-06 17:48:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,872
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26122972
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheDarkLightWithin/pseuds/TheDarkLightWithin
Summary: In which In which Geralt took you under his wing when you were a child and taught you the Witcher ways.
Relationships: Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia/Original Female Character(s), Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia/Reader
Comments: 1
Kudos: 40





	Witcher Ways

**Author's Note:**

> This is also posted on my Tumblr; Thedarklightwithinus

The gravel crunches under her boots as she walks. She made her way through the sparse village, keeping her eyes from straying to the villagers that were tending to their crops. The last thing she needed was to be accused of looking someone up the wrong way. The bruise on her cheek from her previous run in with a group of men who claimed she had looked at them funny was still healing. The same probably couldn't be said for their broken bones and cut flesh. 

She had been meaning to pass through the village in order to reach a larger town. However, despite the village being so remote, it still had its very own notice board and though she tried to ignore it, she couldn’t help but feel drawn to the village. 

Y/N tied the reins of her horse, Opie, to a nearby fence that had a pale of water and some fresh hay. She looped the reins, tugging on them once she had tied them to make sure the leather wasn't going to come loose and allow Opie to roam the lands at his will. 

Opie himself seemed happy with where he was. He instantly began making a dent in the hay as Y/N smiled and spun on her heel. She subtly eyed the few villagers who seemed to, for the most part, ignore her existence. She welcomed it with open arms. It did make a nice change to be ignored rather than judged. 

With a breath of release, she set off for the small notice board that was stationed on a small piece of green grass. She came to a stop when she had made it, her eyes racking over the three pieces of torn parchment that were pinned to the board. 

The first was asking for honeycomb to be brought to a herbalist along with a short set of directions to her house. 

The second, manual labour. 

The third caught her attention almost instantly.

It had been scribbled hastily, the ink slip and sliding all over the parchment from where it had been written in a rush. The edges were torn as though the writer had ripped it from a larger piece of parchment. She skimmed it, getting the gist of what was being told in seconds.

Her brow rose. A ghost, apparently. 

Y/N lowered the parchment and took a look around her. Her head tilted for a moment as she took in what she could of the small amount of men who were tending to crops and the women who were holding baskets full of seeds.

She could tell that they were all worried about something. Whether it be that of the ghost or something else, she couldn’t be sure. 

Y/N sighed, shaking her head as she set off for the man called Buemir using the directions he had scribbled down. 

_A left._

_The next right._

_Follow the path until you come to a large cherry bush._

_Take a left and follow the trail until you come to a hut._

_That’s where I shall be._

_Do hurry. Please._

_Buemir_

Y/N shoved the parchment into one of the pockets in her leather trousers, moved forward and raised her balled fist. She knocked the chipped wooden door twice, pushing the door open when she heard someone call out for her to come in on the other side.

Before she entered, she eyed the doorway with a raised eyebrow. The occupant has decided to decorate said doorway with a vine of assorted berry’s. How he had managed to keep them alive was beyond her.

With a shake of her head, Y/N moved further into the hut.

Y/N stopped a foot away from the doorway once she had moved further inside. She took a look around, taking in the large stacked shelf’s that’s were littered with bottles and bowls.

Her eyes moved around as she looked at the jars that were on another wooden shelf that looked as though it wasn’t bolted to the wall correctly. 

The hut itself was split into two room that was sectioned off by a partial wall. Before she could take in anything else, her eyes were drawn to what must’ve been Buemir. He was lazily sat on a stool that was up against a crooked table. A tankard sat on said table before him. 

“Can I 'elp you?” He asked.

“You can.” Y/N began, taking the spare wooden stool out and sitting opposite the man. “Can you do me a favour?” She reached into her pocket and held up the parchment he had pinned to the notice board. “Describe this ghost for me?” 

Almost as soon as she had asked, the mans face paled considerably. He visibly gulped before he leaned onto the table as though trying to get closer to her. “It’s awfully scary.”

His voice was barely above a whisper. If she didn’t have such good hearing, she probably wouldn’t have been able to catch a word he said. 

“I’m sure it is... What I mean is, what does it look like?” She tried again, trying to gain the knowledge she needed in order to figure out what the creature actually was.

It took a moment for the man to open his mouth. He rubbed at his chin, clearly thinking his words over as he looked around at his belonging's.

“It... It looks like a woman.” He said, reaching to grab his tankard. Y/N wasn't sure what it was filled with but from the smell, she'd guess Ale. He took a large gulp, wiping his mouth with his sleeve before he continued. “Wearing a dress... All rags as though fresh from the grave. It’s skin falling off it’s bones. And it howls... Like it’s sufferin’ real bad.” 

Y/N frowned, leaning back slightly as she took in what he had said. She watched him take another shaky gulp. “It doesn’t sound like a ghost to me.” 

And it didn’t. She had never seen a ghost that looked as though it’s skin was falling off. More or less, a ghost looked like an imprint of ones past selves. 

“Perhaps a Wraith...” Y/N mumbled, more to herself than to Buemir. 

“Please, Miss.” He tore her from her own thoughts. “If you don’t get rid... If you don’t take care of it, it’ll come kill me.”

“How can you be so certain it’ll kill you?” She found herself asking, still finding it difficult to fathom that of other people’s feelings. Scared was something she had long since felt. “Don’t answer that... I’ll sort it. Now, let’s talk payment.”

“P-Payment?” Buemir stuttered, staring at her as she raised a brow and nodded. “Y-You Witcher’s a-are all the same.” 

“Witcher’s?” She questioned, leaning forward slightly. “What do you mean by that.” 

“You may n-not be one, not a mutated o-one I mean... You hold yourself l-like one.” He seemed to stutter much more than he had been when talking about something that supposedly was out to kill him. "I've seen a Witcher. A proper 'en. You h-hold yourself the same." 

Y/N merely raised her brow. After a few moments of staring at him, she shook her head. "So... Where is this so called ghost?" 

Buemir seemed eager to go into great detail about the whereabouts of his ghost. His hands moved as he talked away, his words almost jumbling together from how fast he was talking. 

Y/N picked up the key words she needed. She was almost certain it was a Wrath by the time he had finished telling her where it was located. It made sense seeing as the location he had described was the nearby unofficial graveyard. A short walk would take her to the Wraith in less than ten minutes. 

It was no wonder the people of the village seemed so on edge with it being that close. 

"I suppose you want your coin now." Buemir grunted, downing the rest of his Ale as he eyed her. 

"I'll come back for the payment once it's sorted." Y/N told him, pushing herself to her feet. She moved towards the door, pulling it open before looking over her shoulder. "Word of advice, If someone want's paying before they get the job done, don't bother paying them."

With the said, she left the hut and pulled the door closed behind her. 

The sigh that escaped Y/N's lips was slow; Almost as if her brain needed that time to process what Buemir had told her. 

She took a moment to take in the surrounding area, allowing the sun to shine down on her before she set off towards the notice board once more in order to see where the herbalist who needed honeycomb was. If she was to get rid of the Wraith, she'd need to purchase some herbs from her. 

As she walked, she thought about all the things she had been taught about Wraith's. The familiar deep voice filled her head. 

_"Wraith's are nasty business, Y/N. On their own? manageable. In large groups? deadly. We were taught back at Kaer that they're completely immune to the shock of Samum, though they can be stunned. That's no use to you though. Your best bet is to brew up a concoction."_

She had yet to deal with a Wraith on her own. More often than not, she was the help when it came to getting rid of the wretched things. However, she had spent many years reading from books about all types of creatures. The Wraith was one that had stuck with her since she had first read about them at the young age of seven. 

She had learned that Clerics and scholars had been debating whether spirits do in fact journey to another world after death since forever. Both groups, however, agreed on what happened when a spirit remained in our world after their body breathes its last breath; They transform into Wraiths.

Y/N made it to the notice board in record time. She read the parchment that told her how to get to the herbalist before she set off in the direction the woman had wrote that she lived.

As she came up to a hut that was sat on the cobbled path, Y/N noticed a middle-aged woman who was picking at a bush, placing her findings into a small cloth bag she had on the ground beside her.

Looking down to the parchment she had taken, Y/N scanned for a name before she looked up at the woman. "Sibyl?"

The woman looked up, her brows knitting together as she scanned the area. In seconds, her eyes landed on Y/N who waved the parchment at the woman.

"That's me, aye." The woman, Sibyl nodded. 

Her face lost it's annoyance as she stood from the ground, grabbing her bag and made her way towards Y/N, a polite smile on her face as she moved. Y/N found herself returning the smile. 

"I'm sorry to disturb you and unfortunately, I don't have any honeycomb on me... I was wondering if I could purchase some herbs?" 

Sibyl didn't seem to disappointed that Y/N didn't have the honeycomb she wanted. "Of course. I bid you warning though, I'm running low on stock. I plan to take a trip in the coming days. What is it you're after?"

"Arenaria and Saltpeter." Y/N winced, knowing how difficult it was to come by the first. 

Sibyl hummed making a face as though she was trying to remember something. "I have the Saltpeter... Arenaria, not anymore. I used the last just yesterday." 

"Ah, that's just my luck." Y/N muttered, shaking her head before forcing a smile. "Saltpeter, can I take three loads?" 

"You sure can." 

Y/N followed Sibyl to her door and stood in the open doorway as the older woman moved around her chests and shelfs. 

"Why the Saltpeter?" 

"Moon dust." Y/N replied, watching Sibyl look through her jar collection. "I have the quicksilver solution. I just need the Saltpeter." 

"The Arenaria was for Specter oil?" 

"It was." Y/N nodded. "I'll have to do without." 

"You need me to mix it up for you?" Sibyl asked. She made her way back over to Y/N with a jar full of Saltpeter she had measured out into three separate quantities. 

"No." Y/N smiled, pulling out her coin purse and shaking a few out. "I've got it." 

"You take care of yourself." Sibyl said, reaching up and patting Y/N's cheek almost in a motherly fashion. 

With that said, Y/N spun around and set off away from the hut. She walked along the cobbled path away from the small village and towards where Buemir had told her the Wraith was located. 

Once she had made a decent amount of distance between her and the village but not close enough to the Wraith to be detected, Y/N lowered herself to the ground. She pulled the rucksack from her back she had grabbed from Opie and emptied it's contents to the ground. She picked up the Quicksilver solution before shoving everything else back into the rucksack. 

Before she began mixing the two components, she took a look to the sky. Y/N predicted that sundown would be an hour away. Perfect. 

With a sigh, she began making the moon dust, mixing one part Saltpeter to two parts Quicksilver solution. 

The allergenic reaction to the silver found in Moon Dust can be very useful in preventing a Wraith from becoming intangible, forcing them into a fair fight. 

She had always been taught that the danger comes when a Wraith vanishes, becoming immaterial and invisible. Most often a Wraith will choose to reappear directly behind its target and strike quickly, violently, and repeatedly. With the moon dust, she wasn't going to give it a chance to vanish.

Though she would've liked the addition of Specter oil, she wasn't about to beat around the bush. Bear fat was easy to get. Arenaria, not so much.

She was hoping that the Wraith was one of the ones that had a tendency to drift and wander aimlessly. It would give her the opportunity to confront said Wraith without the need to try and keep track of multiple ones. From the way Buemir had spoken, she was certain it was just the one.

Y/N rummaged through her rucksack once more when she had made the three batches of moon dust. She pulled out three glass vials, popping the lid and filling the vials with the moon dust. Once she had achieved that, she insured it was closed correctly. 

Holding the vials in her hand, she pushed herself to her feet. Y/N lowered her rucksack into the nearest bush before she set off North from where the small village was. 

She kept her feet light despite not seeing the Wraith. The last thing she wanted was to give away her presence before she had a chance to locate the Wraith and use one of her moon dusts. 

Y/N dropped slowly to a crouch when she heard that of a gargle. Though she had heard it plenty of times in her life, it always sent a shiver down her spine. She breathed slowly, eyeing the clearing before her with narrowed eyes. 

A sickening scream filled the air around her as the Wraith glided across the semi-green grass. It moved lazily slow. 

It looked exactly how Buemir had described it. Y/N briefly wondered how close the man had got for him to get a good enough look at the thing. 

Y/N breathed out slowly, her arm moving gently in order to pocket two of the three vials. Once she had done that, she gripped the third in her hand, bringing it back and lining it up with where the Wraith had come to a stop, it's back turned to her.

After another deep breath Y/N threw the vial, hard. It smashed close to the Wraith, the mixture beginning to smoke as it enveloped the Wraith completely. 

In seconds, the ghastly screeching began as the Wraith flayed for a moment. It caught its bearing quickly. Y/N stood up straight, pulling her sword out. 

She held the blade even, a perfect, undaunted horizon; always levelled with the nose, just as he had taught her. As the Wraith set on eyes on her, it screeched once again as Y/N grinned, waiting for her moment. 

The Wraith glided to her, unable to transport itself closer due to the moon dust. It screeched as it did so, it's arms raising as though ready to strike. Y/N didn't give it a chance. Her blade flashed as she brought it over her head and hummed a low, swift tune when she brought it down right as the Wraith was about to take a swipe at her.

Her sword sliced the Wraith deeply. Y/N was quick to roll out of the way of it's arm. She sliced at it's back, bending backwards when it took another swipe at her. 

She continued the motion of bringing her sword down and rolling out of the way of it's swipes until she had cut the Wraith a good few times. 

The Wraith screamed loudly, it's body shaking from anger as it began using both hands to swipe at her. 

Y/N dove out the way and pivoted backwards. She brought her sword down once more, catching the Wraith along it's arm. 

It was as she was jumping backwards that her ankle caught against a clump of stones. She stumbled, keeping her balance and insuring she didn't fall to her ass. However, her moment of distraction proved deadly when the Wraith managed to take a good swipe at her. It knocked her to the ground in seconds, her sword flung to the side. 

Y/N coughed, grasping at the ground as she groaned, trying to catch her breath that had been knocked from her. She lay on the ground winded for a moment. 

Her eyes widened when she saw the Wraith above her, screaming down at her. She forced her body to roll across the grass when it brought it's clawed hands down. She coughed, still trying the catch her breath she she crawled to her sword. 

Before she had a change to reach the weapon, the Wraith behind her let out a harrowing scream. It screamed and screamed before suddenly, it went quiet. 

Y/N frowned, looking over her shoulder at where the Wraith had been. She eyed the black smoke that was disappearing, indicating the Wraith had been slayed. Her eyes moved from the smoke to that of an all to familiar blade that was being held by an even more familiar man. 

She coughed, letting herself fall to the ground in order to finally catch her breath now that the threat was gone. 

Once she breath freely, Y/N gripped her sword and spun onto her back. She sat up, glaring at the figure who was smirking at her. Y/N mumbled under her breath, raising the sword and pushing it back into its baldric. "I had it." 

"Sure you did." 

"I did!" She exclaimed, rubbing the dirt from her hands. "I had it sorted."

"Until you didn't." 

Y/N glared at the man, rolling her eyes as she continued to sit on the ground, crossing her arms across her chest. "What're you doing here, Geralt?" 

Geralt of Rivia smirked at the clear tantrum she was having. He had though she had grown out of them long ago. Clearly, it was hard to tame the wild wolf. Not that he was surprised. 

"Have you been following me?" 

"C'mon, Y/N." He chuckled, shaking his head as he sheathed his own silver sword and crossed his arms across his chest, mimicking her own. "I taught you well. You would've known if I was following you." 

She didn't say anything for a moment, merely looked him over for any difference in him than the last time she had seen him. "True... That still doesn't explain to me how you're here though?"

"Saw Jaskier in Novigrad."

"At the Inn?" Y/N asked. It was where she had last seen the Bard. 

"Mhm." Geralt grunted, moving towards her and holding his hand out. 

Y/N sighed as she uncrossed her arms gripped his large hand. He pulled her up, smiling as he looked down at her. 

"Jaskier said something about you moving North. Followed the road until I came to the village." The pair walked side by side back to where Y/N had stored her rucksack. "Spotted Opie and knew you were close." 

"Don't tell me you sniffed me out." Y/N grumbled.

She had always hated when he had done that when she was a child. All she would want to do was be alone so she could sulk about whatever had gotten her told off that day. Geralt always seemed to sniff her out of hiding no longer than an hour after she had left. 

"Guilty." Geralt chuckled, patting her shoulder as though he related to her issues. "Spotted you mixing up the moon dust... Made me proud." 

"Proud?" Y/N's eyes widened slightly. 

Though she knew Geralt was proud of her, it wasn't often he voiced it. In fact, she could name the times he had done on a single hand. He had never been good with words before she entered his life. Though he still wasn't good with them when she was in his life, he was better. At least, that's what others said. 

Geralt nodded. "You remembered that using your sword and striking doesn't always mean results. Moon dust was a good call... You were doing good too. Just need to watch your feet more. You were never good at that." 

"Well, thanks." Y/N rolled her eyes, grinning at the white-haired man. "I need to collect my payment and before you ask, I'm not splitting it. I did most of the work." 

Geralt grunted, smiling at the back of her head as she set off for her payment. "You deserve it." He called as he followed after her. 

"Perhaps you can have one coin." Y/N called back. "Or I'll buy your next meal, how's that?" 

"Trying to repay me for the last meal I bought you?" 

"Which one?" Y/N turned, walking backwards so she could look upon Geralt's face. "You basically raised me, Geralt. You fed me and kept me clothed. I don't have enough days in my life to ever repay you for that." 

"And you don't need to." Geralt shook his head, looking suddenly more stern than he ever had. "Never. Though you don't have my blood in your veins, you're my kid. As close as it gets." 

"Geralt of Rivia, people never believe me when I tell them you're a sweetheart." Y/N sighed, shaking her head. "Thank y-"

"Don't." Y/N already knew what he was going to say. "There's no thanks needed... Let's go get your coin. We should make it back to the Inn before dusk."

"Last one to the village has to clean the blades." 


End file.
